This invention relates generally to a display fixture, and more particularly, to a fixture used for displaying and vending suspenders.
Suspenders are commonly vended by packaging them in boxes with transparent fronts, through which they are visible, or by suspending them from display racks. The advantage of displaying them on a rack, as opposed to packaging them in boxes, is that a customer can view and feel a substantial portion of the suspenders, without the necessity of removing them from a box. When they are removed from a box, the customer may not necessarily replace them in the box, when placing the box back on a counter.
One of the problems of utilizing the racks presently in use is that there is no method or mechanism for separating suspenders by color, design, materials from which they are made, etc. Thus, generally, because of the lack of any segregation method, all different types and styles of suspenders are comingled on the display rack. This results in excessive handling by customers, and the soiling or damaging of the suspenders when a customer has to move the suspenders in front in order to view the suspenders in the rear of the display rack.
When a store tries to segregate styles or colors of suspenders on specific rods on a display rack, it is difficult for the store to maintain the separation of the suspenders. Thus, quite often the customers will remove a pair of suspenders from a particular supporting rod, and replace the suspenders on a different rod. This creates a major problem for a store that is attempting to maintain inventory of given colors and styles and, in addition, prevents a customer from noticing that a particular color or style is available, since he will only look at suspenders on the supporting rods of the rack containing the color or style that he is looking for.
Applicant recognized a similar problem in connection with the displaying and vending of belts, and solved the problem through the use of a color coding system for the display of belts. In this system, a display rack for the belts had a plurality of sections. Each section was coded with a specific color. Each section had a plurality of spokes, and belts were suspended from the spokes by hang tags. The hang tags had the same color as the color of the section on which the belts were to be hung. Utilizing the color coding system, all of the belts of a particular style were hung in the same section, and were easily segregated by matching the colors. This color coding system is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,576.
When Applicant recognized that there was a similar problem in connection with the display and vending of suspenders, consideration was given to utilizing a color coding system similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,576. However, there are only a limited number of colors available, and there are a far greater number of styles, colors and materials used with suspenders. Any attempt to distinguish the suspenders by color gradients could defeat the purpose of the colors, since a stock clerk is not always attentive to color variations, and the net result could be that when a clerk adds to the inventory of a display rack or reorganizes a display rack when some of the suspenders are misplaced by a customer, misplacing could still result.
The problem of accurately separating suspenders is solved by this invention. The display rack of the invention has a plurality of rods for supporting suspenders. A different number is associated with each rod and the corresponding number is placed on the suspenders adapted to be supported by the rod. In this way, an endless number of styles, colors or materials of suspenders can be accommodated by the display rack, with the suspenders being accurately placed in the appropriate location, with a minimal amount of attention required by the person stocking the display rack.
In another aspect of this invention, the display rack supporting the suspenders is constructed in a manner that will maximize the number of suspenders vendable in a given area of floor space. The rack is arranged to have a plurality of tiers of vertically hanging suspenders, with each tier being lower and forwardly placed with respect to the higher tier or tiers. This permits a portion of each pair of suspenders to hang behind the suspenders on the next lower tier.